SAVE THE CHILDREN; BLOG # 171; FEB 20, 2015

THE MESSAGE:

Certainly most people don't need to be reminded of the many atrocities some children are exposed to, almost daily,  in their lives. The following is presented to emphasize the horrendous predicaments to which some children have been subjected.  Around the world, there are too many stories and too much evidence of the abuse of innocent children. 

DISTURBING STATISTICS

Child murder is the homicide of an individual under the age of 18. 

> In 2008, there were 1,494 child homicides in the United States. Of those killed 1,035 were male and 453 were female.

> One in five murders of children are committed by other children.

> FBI crime statistics show there were 20 children age 12 and under in the U.S. who were accused of murder during 2012, the most recent year for which statistics were available.

JAMES PATRICK BULGER 

From Kirkby, Merseyside, England. He was murdered on 12 February 1993, at the age of two. James Patrick was abducted, tortured and murdered by two ten-year-old boys, Robert Thompson and Jon 

Venables. At trial it was established that they kicked and stomped on him, and threw bricks and stones at him. Batteries were placed in Bulger's mouth. He suffered ten skull fractures as a result of an iron bar striking his head. Dr. Alan Williams, the case's pathologist, stated that Bulger suffered so many injuries—42 in total—that none could be isolated as the fatal blow.

THE YOUNG MURDERERS

Before they left him, the boys laid Bulger across the railway tracks and weighted his head down with rubble, in the hope that a train would hit him and make his death appear to be an accident. After Bulger's killers left the scene, his body was cut in half by a train. Bulger's severed body was discovered two days later, on 14 February. A forensic pathologist testified that he was dead before he was struck by the train.

KENDREA JOHNSON

Police in Minnesota have closed their investigation of a 6-year-old girl’s hanging death by ruling out foul play, and saying that the evidence points to an accident or suicide.

Kendrea Johnson was found unconscious in a bedroom of her foster home  with a jump rope around her neck.  She had been receiving treatment for emotional problems including suicidal thoughts. Child protection workers put the girl in foster care in December 2013 because of her mother’s alleged abuse of drugs. Kendrea had been at that particular home since March 2014. Investigators found a note written in purple marker in a child’s handwriting reading: “I’m sorry.” A second note said: “I’m sad for what I do.”

Kendrea’s foster mother said the girl told her she wanted to jump out a window and kill herself because “Nobody likes me,” She drew pictures at school of a child hanging from a rope, and police found healed ligature marks on both sides of her neck.

UNIDENTIFIED

Police in Pemberton N.J.say a newborn child was found burning in the middle of a road. Sources say a neighbour, David Joseph witnessed a woman, in her 20’s, douse a newborn child in an unknown flammable substance and then set the infant on fire.  

KEMBERLY DORVILIER

The depraved woman burned her newborn baby girl alive. A makeshift memorial now stands where the baby was murdered.  Kemberly Dorvilier was arrested at the scene. She is being held on $500,000 bail, prosecutors said.

DAVID JOSEPH

Witnesses say Dorvilier stopped her Land Rover, stepped out with her daughter, put the infant on the ground, doused her in a flammable liquid and burned her alive. Joseph initially thought he had caught someone dumping garbage. “We saw the fire and we thought someone was over there burning trash,” he said. Dorvilier claimed she was only burning dog waste, but Joseph restrained her until police arrived.  

REHTAEH PARSONS

The notorious picture of Rehtaeh Parsons, naked from the waist down and hanging out a window, was taken by a third participant. It was a graphic shot of one of the boys having sex with her after she had thrown up from excessive consumption of alcohol.

According to the boy, after Rehtaeh had somewhat collected herself,  she invited them to pick up where they’d left off.  At trial The Halifax man, then a teen, said he believed the sex was consensual, despite her being drunk and vomiting out a window.  “We were kind of laughing about that night. She was like, ‘You guys can keep going,’ and we we’re like pointing at each other”. “Like, ‘You go ahead’ so I was like whatever.”

The young man was sentenced to probation for distributing the photo of himself having sex with Rehtaeh.  The young woman killed herself in 2013 after years of bullying linked to the action photo taken that night. 

The sad reality is they don’t identify themselves as aggressors or rapists.  Rehtaeh's  father says, "The Young man who pled guilty to ‘child pornography’ should be thrown in jail."

LORELIE, 5, LOIC, 4, AND ANAIS, 2.

DRUMMONDVILLE,  QUEBEC.

A Crown prosecutor in Quebec is confirming the death of a woman who was charged with murdering her three young children. Sonia Blanchette has died according to Radio-Canada report that she starved herself to death in a Montreal hospital. Blanchette was to appear in court to have a date set for her first-degree murder trial.

She was charged in the December 2012 deaths of Lorelie, 5, Loic, 4, and Anais, 2.  They were found dead in her apartment in Drummondville, midway between Montreal and Quebec City.  A coroner ruled the two youngest children drowned while the oldest child was killed by a combination of strangling and drowning.

JESSICA LUNSFORD 

FLORIDA,   Death of a 9-Year-Old

In 2005, Jessica Lunsford was abducted from her Florida home by repeat sex offender John Couey when she was nine. After her notably horrific murder, her father pursued legislation for stricter sex offender monitoring, resulting in the Jessica Lunsford Act. Jessica would be 17 today.

Arrested in Augusta, Couey took a polygraph test administered by FBI Special Agent John Whitmore. During the test, Couey broke down and confessed to the abduction and murder of Jessica Lunsford. He also revealed where they could find her body.

A jury found Couey guilty of all charges relating to the death of Jessica Lunsford, including first degree murder, kidnapping, burglary, and sexual battery.

In accordance with Florida law, a circuit court judge heard arguments for and against Couey's receiving the death penalty. He sentenced John Evander Couey to die for the brutal rape and murder of Jessica Lunsford.

On September 30, 2009, John Evander Couey died in prison of natural causes

MARY BETH TINNING  
SCHENECTADY  NY

From January 3, 1972, the day her daughter Jennifer died, until December 20, 1985, when Tami Lynne was found dead in her home, all eight of Marybeth Tinning's children died suddenly and usually without any rational explanation.

On the afternoon of July 17, 1987, Mary Beth Tinning, 44, was found guilty of murder in the second degree in the death of Tami Lynne, showing "a depraved indifference to human life." The jury could not agree on the issue of whether she actually intended to kill the child.

During the interview, the parole commissioners emphasized Tinning's apparent lack of remorse and her insistence that she simply does not remember what happened to Tami Lynne. "You were found guilty of causing the death of your infant daughter by asphyxiation. The victim was vulnerable and totally reliant on you for love, care and safety....you stated that  during the interview that you could not believe that you would harm your child but could not recall exactly what occurred....you appear to have little insight into your crime and display little remorse. You have absolved yourself of responsibility."

ANDREA YATES, 

TEXAS

Yates was under a psychiatrist's care for severe depression. On June 20, 2001, her husband left for work leaving Andrea alone with the children. This he did against strict instructions to supervise her around the clock. He had asked his mother to come and assist Andrea in his absence but the mother arrived an hour late. In the space of that hour, Andrea drowned all five children. She started with John, Paul, and Luke, and after drowning them, laid them in her bed. She then drowned Mary, whom she left floating in the tub. Noah came in and asked what was wrong with Mary. He then ran, but she soon caught and drowned him. She then left Noah floating in the tub and laid Mary in his arms. Afterwards, she called the police. 

SUSAN EUBANKS: 

CALIFORNIA

She Murdered Her Four Sons Only to Get Revenge Against Her Ex-Husband

On the evening of October 26, 1997, Susan Eubanks committed the unthinkable when she shot and killed her four children execution style at her home in California.

Brandon, Austin, Brigham, and Matthew were, 14, 7, 6, and 4 at the time of their deaths. She then turned the gun on herself, shooting herself in the stomach. Five days after the murders, Susan was charged with four counts of first degree murder. During her trial there were allegations of child abuse and talk of revenge against her ex-husband prior to the murders. After being convicted of four counts of first degree murder, Susan Eubanks was sentenced to the death penalty. At her sentencing a month later, she said that she loved her children but felt they would be better off. 

FRANCES NEWTON

TEXAS

Frances Newton was executed at the age of 40 by lethal injection for the April 7, 1987 murder of her husband, Adrian, her 7-year-old son, Alton, and her 21-month-old daughter, Farrah. She was only 21 when she murdered them. However, Frances never admitted her guilt. She consistently proclaimed her innocence, contending that her family was killed by drug dealers to whom her husband owed money. Frances was strapped to the death chamber gurney, with her parents among the people watching. The Governor rejected Frances Newton's petition for a 30-day stay at 5:50 p.m. She declined to make a final statement, quietly saying, "No," and shaking her head when the warden asked. 

THE QUESTION: 

At what point does a woman become so desperate that she sees no way out?

THE LEMON:

Following the birth of their fourth son, Luke, Andrea Yates became depressed. The media alleged that her condition was influenced by the extremist sermons of Michael Peter Woroniecki a self-styled preacher.  Her family was concerned by the way that she was so captivated by the minister’s words.

Michael Peter Woroniecki  

THE QUOTE:

“I need to be alone. I need to ponder my shame and my despair in seclusion; I need the sunshine and the paving stones of the streets without companions, without conversation, face to face with myself, with only the music of my heart for company.” 

-HENRY MILLER, TROPIC OF CANCER. 

THE CLIP: